On November 18, the fourth year of Dashun, Shao Shude invited Lu Huaizhong at Longchi Palace.

Lu Huaizhong took his family from Lingzhou, which was Shao Shude's request. Today, his family was also invited by the welcome banquet.

The small details reflect Lu Huaizhong's position in Shao Shude's heart.

He is not the number one thug, but he is the most trusted general. He leads his troops out of the battle and can let him be the kind of absolute confidant who stays behind.

"The situation in Nanyang is chaotic. If you gain a foothold in the future and even occupy a few states, you will be sent to Ezhou." The women were talking in a low voice, the children were playing around, and Shao Shude and Lu Huaizhong found a quiet place and started chatting...

Zhe Fangai personally brought a pot of tea and poured it on the two of them.

Lu Huaizhong quickly stood up to thank him and said, "How dare you do anything for the princess?"

Zhe Fangai's lower abdomen was slightly raised, and she was pregnant, but she insisted on pouring a bowl of tea for Lu Huaizhong and said with a smile: "General Lu is the most trustworthy person of his husband. He works hard and makes great contributions, so he deserves this gift."

Lu Huaizhong repeatedly thanked him.

After pouring the tea, Zhe Fangai said goodbye and left, talking to Lu Huaizhong's wife Han.

"Old Lu, when you were in the Wuchang Army, the E soldiers could not fight, right?" Shao Shude asked Lu Huaizhong to drink tea and asked casually.

"At that time, I could still make gestures, but it was no longer enough. The number of soldiers was 30,000, but in fact it was only 20,000, and it was still scattered everywhere. When Wang Xianzhi's army arrived, it scattered like birds and beasts." Lu Huaizhong was from Huainan, but he worked as a small school in the Wuchang Army and was later exiled to Fengzhou. In the end, he actually avoided the disaster of Wang Xianzhi's attack on Ezhou, which was a blessing in disguise.

"Du Hong is the leader of the six states, but he can only have one place in Ezhou, Anzhou and Yuezhou, Qizhou and Shenzhou are relatively obedient, and Shenzhou are slanderous. Wu Dai in Huangzhou and Yang Xing are closely connected. He is just the governor of Ezhou." Shao Shude smiled and said, "If the situation is opened up in the Shen, Guang, An, and Cai area in the future, will Lao Lu be willing to take charge?"

Lu Huaizhong was shocked. Is this the meaning of establishing Huaixi Town? He became the governor of Huaixi?

Although he is a rough man, he is not stupid. Over the years, he has been asking his staff to tell him history, experience, and broaden his horizons. The general was worried that once the situation was opened up in the south, Zhe Zong was too powerful and wanted to divide his power. Tang Deng and Huaixi towns were ranked side by side, which was better than unification under a large Huaixi town.

Decentralization, checks and balances, win over, and benevolence, the general is becoming more and more like a hero in troubled times.

"The commander-in-chief should be determined without hesitation." Lu Huaizhong paused and smiled, "It's much closer to the village of Luzhou. In the future, Yang Xingmi will be defeated, and then go back to his hometown to take a look."

Shao Shude laughed.

Lu Huaizhong's words were not entirely joking. Yang Xingmi now has three choices. One is to go north to collect Zhu Quanzhong, Hao, Shou and Chu, and consolidate the Huaihe defense line; the other is to go south to attack Qian Liu, Dong Chang, and especially Qian Liu. He is the governor of Zhenhai Army and the governor of Runzhou, but Runzhou is a major conflict point under the control of Yang Xingmi; the third is to attack Jiangxi and Eyue Town, which were swept across by Sun Ru's remnants.

Basically, the choice was similar to the ancient Wuyue regime. The north had to defend the river and Huai River, and the west was Jingzhou, otherwise it would be very difficult and the country would not last long.

Shao Shude's forces have already penetrated the Han River area, only one step away from the Yangtze River. How can Yang Xingmi not be nervous?

Hearing that Du Hong threatened Wu Hao, the governor of Huangzhou, recently, and asked him to send troops to attack Zhao Kuangning. Wu Hao was unwilling to do so, and the two had already opened up. Yang Xingmi took the opportunity to win over, and Wu Hao was likely to surrender to Yang Xingmi. Considering that Yang Xingmi's current ambition was to recover the traditional old land in Huainan, the five prefectures of Shen, Guang, Huang, Qi and An were all within it, and if one was not good, he would advance westward.

Moreover, Yang Xingmi is a visionary person. If Zhu Quanzhong shows a downturn, the conflict between the two can be reconciled. It is not impossible to coordinate the interests of the north and move west with all their might.

It’s hard to say whether this person is a friend or an enemy, after all, this will be very different from history.

"Let's talk about this for now." Shao Shude picked up the tea bowl and drank it, and said, "Now there are only iron forests, Feilong and Wuwei armies left in the river. Tianxiong army is about to return to Lingxia to rest, and the troops are really short of troops. The Wuwei army has not fought for some years, so they let their men go to the battlefield to practice, so as not to forget how to fight."

What Shao Shude refers to fighting wars is of course the Wangwushan war that has never been stopped.

Tianzhu, Tianxiong, Yicong, the four armies of Shunyi returned to Lingxia, Heyuan, and Jishi went to Xingfengliang. Only Guide, Baoyi, Chishui, Wuxing and Guzhen five armies had 37,000 infantry and cavalry.

There will be more soldiers next year. Shao Shude is like an ant moving, pouring things into the river bit by bit. Longchi Palace was originally in the wilderness, but now a small town appears: the post station appears and is handed over to an old soldier who has retired from Tie Lin Army; various shops appear, and all kinds of goods have to be sold; a large number of mansions have been built, which are the residences of increasingly large bureaucratic members, and so on.

A city with Longchi Palace as its core appeared out of thin air.

However, everyone seemed to have no plans to build a good house. Some officials did not even bring their wives and children, but only found a concubine locally and started a new life. Everyone seemed to understand that they might have to move in the future, so there was no need to plan to live for a long time.

"The Wuwei Army, the last time they fought a serious war, should have been in Helong." Lu Huaizhong also agreed with Shao Shude's statement and said, "How is the Qiziling now?"

"The death and injury are terrible." Shao Shude sighed and said, "I tried all the methods. A small group of people turned over and crossed the ridge, but the road was too difficult to walk. In some places, one man was a pass and ten thousand men were defeated and repelled. He cheated and defeated to lure the Bian army out of the pass and pursued him. He successfully defeated and destroyed more than a thousand Bian army, but failed to break through the pass. The effect was limited, and it was useless to divorce. The new Helong Fan people attacked for a month, with more than 5,000 casualties, and some even mutiny and were suppressed. Wang Yao's troops died and injured more than 3,000 people, and they retreated directly to rest. Yesterday, they started a fierce attack, and more than 1,000 casualties were killed or killed or killed or injured in a day. The Shuofang Yamen was less dead and injured, but Tianxiong, Chishui, and the Yi army who had withdrawn before, also killed and injured more than 4,000 people. Qiziling is really a flesh-and-blood grinding wheel."

Lu Huaizhong was also a little disappointed when he heard this.

Some terrain, such as Jiguan, Zhuangguan, Jiushiguan, and Hanguguan, if you can't be surprised and have to fight honestly, there will be great casualties and may not even be able to conquer them.

In those places, it doesn’t matter whether there is a city wall or not. Just build a village, it’s entirely up to the terrain to defend.

It actually takes a little luck to attack these passes. The defenders are careless, have weak fighting intentions, and even weather factors may bring you good luck. But there are good luck and bad luck. For example, Deng Yu attacked Ji Pass and captured it in ten days, but when he captured Anyi County, it was much easier to fight than Ji Pass, but it could not be captured for several months.

Huang Chao attacked Tongguan in just one day, but he could not defeat Chenzhou for three hundred days.

Qin Zongyan attacked Jiangling for a year, and only dozens of households were left in the city, but he was unable to take it down in the end.

Guancheng is special than these prefectures and county towns, because its defense is not purely based on city walls, but more of a terrain, which is theoretically more difficult to fight than prefectures and county towns.

"But Qi Ziling is almost at its limit." Shao Shude said the good side again: "According to the latest news, there were epidemics in Guancheng, and more people killed by the disease may be killed than us."

Lu Huaizhong grinned and laughed silently.

"My righteous brother Li Keyong has sent an envoy to reply. He agreed to use the opportunity and ordered Li Hanzhi, An Jinjun and others to "act according to the opportunity". This is actually very interesting. Xue Zhiqin in Luzhou and Kang Junli of Jinyang did not move his troops, and obviously he did not intend to interfere in the various entanglements in the south." Shao Shude said: "The war with Zhu Quanzhong can only depend on ourselves."

"The general has not forgotten the reason for the rebellion, right?" After hearing this for a while, Lu Huaizhong suddenly asked.

"No."

"Okay, I'll do the matter of the Wuwei Army soldiers moving to Jin Jiang. If any bastard dares to talk nonsense, I will destroy him directly." Lu Huaizhong said: "Zhu Quanzhong, Li Keyong, let's eliminate them one by one."

...

In the early morning of November 21, Shao Shude was woken up by his maid.

Feng Xuan was sleeping soundly in his arms. On the specially made small bed not far away, their daughter was lying, a cute baby who had not been born.

After getting up and putting on his military uniform, Shao Shude sat back to the bed and had a conversation with Feng Xuan. Then he strided away from Anle Hall and headed for the military camp outside the city.

A thousand personal soldiers have been assembled, and the nine thousand infantry and cavalry of the Wuwei Army have also sorted out everything.

There was nothing much to say. Tens of thousands of people left the station and walked east along the post road.

The Tielin Army stayed in Longchi Palace and organized the officials of Anyi, Xia and Wenxi counties to transport grain and grass.

On November 26, the army arrived in Wangwu County.

Shao Shude took a look at this new land.

The narrow mountain valley was shrouded in thick fog, and the bloodstains of the fighting two months ago were no longer visible.

The land was flattened out one by one.

Yellow blocks of soil are turned over, with grass seeds and crop roots. After the spring of next year, crops will be planted, giving people the hope of life.

The main Qiang species settled in Wangwu County from Hewei, mainly Tubo, Kuangshu, Qiang people, and Dangxiang, with a total of 8,000 households and more than 10,000 people. However, this is the number when we set out. Now there are at most 5,000 strong men left, and the population loss is serious.

Shao Shude casually walked into a village.

The Tubo tribes were carefully selecting the barley seeds they brought, trying to choose large and plump grains, and smiling while choosing.

The dirty child led the same dirty goat and grazed on the hillside.

The girls gathered together and weaved the fabric. The brave and fierce boys wrestled not far away, and occasionally glanced at them. After seeing the women pointing at them, they were full of strength and started practicing with one stern look.

The wrinkled old woman knelt on the ground, muttering constantly.

Shao Shude, who was already quite popular in Tibetan, chatted with her casually for a few words. When the Tubo tribe heard it, they all caused a sensation.

This is really awesome!

"Your eldest son died in battle when he attacked Qiziling, so this land will always belong to your family. In the future, let his second son farm well, and he will not go to the battlefield again in the short term." Shao Shude ordered his personal soldiers to bring two pieces of silk for the old woman.

The old woman's second son was actually worried that the land promised to him would not be fulfilled. He immediately rushed to the ground, knelt there quietly, burying his head in the loess.

The family business that I exchanged for my life is worth it! Even if I am summoned to fight again in the future, I will not be afraid even if I die. My family and land are still there, and the family will have hope.

"Master General." Du Xiao, the inspector of the Shaozhou camp, rushed over and saluted.

Shao Shude nodded and continued walking in the countryside of Wangwu County.

The flat land has been opened into farmland, and gentle slopes are orchards and pastures. What Wangwu County needs most now is sedimentation.

"Every inch of land in Shaozhou is obtained by the soldiers fighting repeatedly." Shao Shude climbed a hillside and looked into the distance through the thick fog, but finally gave up.

"I have been in military service for more than ten years." Shao Shude continued: "I can rush on the grassland for more than a hundred miles a day, fight and surrender in Helong, expand land for hundreds of miles, and swallow two vassal states in Guanzhong at one go. But when fighting in Henan, every inch of land has to be repeatedly fought for, and it is still some hilly and platform with little value. I know the difficulty of fighting."

Du Xiao glanced at Shao Shude in surprise.

"Shaozhou is the most difficult place I have ever obtained since the rebellion. I am good at managing my business, so don't let me down."

"Affect the order."

"Maybe this thick fog will surprise me today?" Shao Shude suddenly smiled as he looked at the fog that was still too thick to melt.

Du Xiao knew it and immediately said: "The general came to supervise the battle in person, and Gao Dutou will definitely win."

Shao Shude smiled without saying a word, still standing on the hillside, overlooking the hazy country.

The crisp sound of horse hooves echoed in the valleys of the mountains, and the knights of Lubu Feijie flashed by, leaving behind a powerful roar: "Liang Han-yong, deputy envoy of the Chishui Army, led 80 warriors to climb first, and captured Zhongguan City of Qiziling. The Bian bandits were defeated and destroyed soon."

Du Xiao glanced at Shao Shude in surprise.

Shao Shude was a little surprised and worried: Liang Hangong is so desperate. If he dies, wouldn’t Guo'er want to be a widow?

"Let Yang Liang come to see me." Shao Shude suddenly ordered.

Yang Liang quickly went up the mountain and saluted: "What are the commands of the Grand Marshal?"

"There is no suspense that the Chishui Army broke through Qiziling. How could the Wuwei Army let it be beautiful in front of us?" Shao Shude said: "General Yang, you will take two thousand Wuwei cavalry to the south and take a small road to Heqing County and Baiyacang to let the Bian bandits see the style of Wuwei Army."

"Affect the order."

Since the East and West Wei, Hedong, Luoyang and Nanyang have been repeatedly tug-of-war and fiercely fought for decades. Both sides have become a crazier of building cities. You build a Pinggao City, I am building a Pingzhou City and slapped your face. You build a series of military camps in Hedong, and I also build thirteen forts in a row. Yuwen Zhou built a city all the way from Shanzhou to Xin'an County, which was simply crazy.

Both sides clearly had a large number of cavalry, but in the end they were propelling layer by layer with fortresses and infantry, repeatedly tug-of-wars, and using all means. It is rare to fight so fiercely. During decades of war, both sides realized that relying on one or two major battles, they could not eliminate the other side, and they could only fight for a long time.
Chapter completed!